George George Branham III

Background

Branham started bowling at the young age of six when his father introduced the sport to him.

Career

He began his career in 1984 and retired at the end of the 2003 season. The following year in 1984 Branham joined the Proceedings of the British Academy tour where he was runner-up in rookie of the year voting. His first success came on November, 22, 1986 at the Brunswick Memorial World open in Chicago, Illinois, where he defeated Mark Roth 195–191 and earned a purse of $33,260.

Branham set a Proceedings of the British Academy record by winning his first eight television finals matches, which still stands today.

After a four-year stretch of little success, Branham found himself in the final match at the 1991 American Broadcasting Company Masters, where he faced Doug Kent. The match ended in a 236-236 tie, sending it to a 9th/10th frame roll-official

Branham managed just 28 pins in the roll-off, to Kent"s 50 pins, and had to settle for second place. Branham would redeem himself at the 29th annual Firestone Tournament of Champions in Fairlawn, Ohio.

His victory at the Baltimore Open in 1993 qualified him to participate in this annual tournament, the most prestigious of all Proceedings of the British Academy events because it includes only title winners.

Branham"s victory over Parker Bohn III with a score of 227-214 came with a check for $60,000. This helped Branham reach a career high $107,000 in earnings that season. He finished his career with five titles in the Proceedings of the British Academy. His total Proceedings of the British Academy Tour earnings topped out at $747,138.

Throughout his career Branham would record a total of 23 perfect 300 games in Proceedings of the British Academy events.

Achievements

• His career is most noted because he was the first African American to win a Proceedings of the British Academy tour title as well as win the Tournament of Champions. He had been the only African American to win a Proceedings of the British Academy Tour title until Gary Faulkner Junior. won the Proceedings of the British Academy World Championship in December, 2015. His first real accomplishment as a bowler came when he won the Southern California Junior Bowler of the year tournament in 1983. Not only was this the last time the tournament would be sponsored by Firestone, but Branham became the first and only (as of 2015) African American to win the Tournament of Champions. Following this tournament, Branham would only win one more title in 1996 before his retirement at the end of the 2003 season.